Father of Kalamazoo police officer Eric Zapata's killer could get 2 years in prison

Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney's OfficeThese are some of the guns police found unsecured inside Kim Statler's home following the April 18, 2011 shooting death of Kalamazoo Public Safety Officer Eric Zapata.

One of the 13 firearms – a high-powered rifle – was used by Leonard Statler, 31, to shoot and kill Kalamazoo Public Safety Officer Eric Zapata on April 18, 2011.

After shooting Zapata, Statler turned the gun on himself.

“This was a preventable tragedy,” U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Miles Jr. and two of his assistants, John C. Bruha and Seah C. Maltbie, wrote in a six-page sentencing memorandum filed Friday in U.S. District Court. “It would not have happened but for access to the guns that defendant (Kim) Statler left in the custody of his sons when he went to Florida.”

Kim Statler, 53, pleaded guilty in May to one count of disposing of firearms to a felon. He is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker.

Courtesy PhotoKim R. Statler

“No sentence this court can impose can punish defendant Statler more than the loss of his son and the loss of Officer Zapata,” prosecutors said in the sentencing memorandum. “… Neither the government nor the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety can take a position on what an appropriate sentence should be for this defendant.

“We leave that to the discretion of the Court.”

Sentencing guidelines call for Statler, who is free on bond, to spend between 18 months and two years in prison.

Statler’s other son, Kim R. Statler II, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced in November to four years in federal prison.